Cancer doctor's patients gather at meet and greet (with video)

If the allegations against Dr. Farid Fata are true, someone knew about them at least three years ago.

That’s according to Angela Swantek, an oncologist nurse who spoke Wednesday night at a gathering for those affected by Fata’s Medicare case.

Former patients of Fata, as well as their friends and family members, turned out in droves to the meet and greet at the Concorde Inn in Rochester Hills.

Fata, an Oakland Township resident, is accused of providing unnecessary chemotherapy and other treatments to patients in a Medicare fraud scheme.

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Swantek said she was in Fata’s office for 15 minutes before she knew she would not accept a job there. She said she reported what she believed to be medical malpractice after spending 90 minutes in his office.

“This has been my crusade for three years, to finally see that man where he is at,” she said.

Swantek said she didn’t get a response from the state of Michigan until 13 months after she initially reported Fata.

“How many people did he harm in that three year time that could’ve been spared had somebody done something?” she said.

“I even wrote him up on OSHA violations thinking ‘Somebody go in and do something.’”

Answering several questions from attendees, Swantek explained the difference between proper treatment and what Fata’s patients said they received.

At one point, Swantek asked those in attendance to raise their hands if they were given iron infusions. The majority of those in the room raised a hand.

“By giving an iron infusion to somebody who is not low in iron, it can cause liver failure,” she said. The crowd groaned.

Swantek said she “personally will not be vindicated until (Fata) is brought up on criminal charges for negligent homicide.”

“It upsets me that they’ve tainted my profession,” Swantek said.

“How did these nurses not know?”

Geraldine Parkin, who organized the Facebook group that led to the meet and greet, served as the master of ceremonies during the event.

“We are all here as a group,” Parkin said to start things off.

“I call us a team. We want to make sure Fata stays where he’s at if this is all proven true.”

The statement prompted the first of several rounds of applause throughout the evening.

Brian McKeen, a medical malpractice attorney, answered questions from several attendees. He said the case is not “well suited to a class action” lawsuit because of the individual nature of medical cases.

He also mentioned the possibility of other litigants.

“What I want you all to know is that there’s going to be a huge fight on whether there’s liability on anybody besides Dr. Fata, and there’s going to be drastically limited insurance coverage for him,” McKeen said.

“One would think there were a number of people who knew about Dr. Fata’s misconduct, so the question becomes ‘What did they know, and when did they know it?’”